Computer input pointing device

Computer input pointing device (Full Version)

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Aylee -> Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 4:44:18 PM)
Why are they called "mouses"?

ashjor911 -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 5:07:14 PM)
FR...... i have a headeack looks like them

Aylee -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 5:09:55 PM)
Ummm. . . no. No they do not. Maybe where you live you do not have mice. But the computer device looks nothing like Jerry or Speedy.

willbeurdaddy -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 5:23:14 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Aylee Ummm. . . no. No they do not. Maybe where you live you do not have mice. But the computer device looks nothing like Jerry or Speedy. Yeah they do...sorta. The cord is the tail. Put little ears on the other end and hallucinate a little :)

HannahLynHeather -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 5:56:39 PM)
according to the inventor of the mouse, there is no reason, its just what they called it. quote: "I don't know why we call it a mouse," he said during the demo. "It started that way, and we never did change it." http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=origins-computer-mouse hannah lynn

Aylee -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 6:00:41 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy quote: ORIGINAL: Aylee Ummm. . . no. No they do not. Maybe where you live you do not have mice. But the computer device looks nothing like Jerry or Speedy. Yeah they do...sorta. The cord is the tail. Put little ears on the other end and hallucinate a little :) Yeah. . . it is that whole hallucinating thing that I am having trouble with. Add to that, there is no clicky buttons on a mousey.

WantsOfTheFlesh -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 6:04:13 PM)
If I remember rightly it was because the with the invention of the first graphical user interface, the screen cursor was called a CAT, probably an abbreviation. In a sense the CAT chased the movement of the mouse which was a wooden box with wheels and a tail so it was a bit like a mouse or toy mouse. It was developed around 1964 in the US I think...

Arpig -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 6:20:03 PM)
quote: If I remember rightly it was because the with the invention of the first graphical user interface, the screen cursor was called a CAT, probably an abbreviation. In a sense the CAT chased the movement of the mouse which was a wooden box with wheels and a tail so it was a bit like a mouse or toy mouse. It was developed around 1964 in the US I think... Ummmm...no. It was 1967, and as clearly stated by the inventor during his 1st demo of the mouse and related new technology, there is no particular reason for the name. Per Hannah Lynn's post..... quote: according to the inventor of the mouse, there is no reason, its just what they called it. quote: "I don't know why we call it a mouse," he said during the demo. "It started that way, and we never did change it." http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=origins-computer-mouse hannah lynn

Aylee -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 6:27:05 PM)
Huh. And I have heard it said that we never do things without a reason. Well, there goes another theory. [>:]

WantsOfTheFlesh -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 6:36:40 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Arpig quote: If I remember rightly it was because the with the invention of the first graphical user interface, the screen cursor was called a CAT, probably an abbreviation. In a sense the CAT chased the movement of the mouse which was a wooden box with wheels and a tail so it was a bit like a mouse or toy mouse. It was developed around 1964 in the US I think... Ummmm...no. It was 1967, and as clearly stated by the inventor during his 1st demo of the mouse and related new technology, there is no particular reason for the name. Per Hannah Lynn's post..... quote: according to the inventor of the mouse, there is no reason, its just what they called it. quote: "I don't know why we call it a mouse," he said during the demo. "It started that way, and we never did change it." http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=origins-computer-mouse hannah lynn I posted it up without seeing the other post you mention. 1967 cannot be right as the first published mention of it in this context was in 1965. Accounts vary. Some say it was just a random name which I find hard to believe even if the inventor says so since there are some visual similarities. I read it a while back from a good source and found a similar account here, which is an extract from a book: "Roger Bates, who was a young hardware designer working for Bill English, has a clear recollection of how the name was chosen. ... He remembers that what today is called the cursor on the screen was at the time called a 'CAT.' Bates has forgotten what CAT stood for, and no one else seems to remember either, but in hindsight it seems obvious that the CAT would chase the tailed mouse on the desktop." http://anshul.posterous.com/how-the-computer-mouse-got-its-name

Arpig -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 6:48:54 PM)
You are very probably right about the date, I was under the impression that it was invented in 1967, but according to the SciAm article 67 was when the patent was applied for, so its almost certain it was in development before that. As to the name, I'll take the word of the inventor spoken at the time over the imperfect recollection of an engineer years after the fact. But, hey, you like your story, stick with it Though it does seem awfully convenient that a cursor was called a CAT...and yet it seems nobody knows why...doncha think? Smacks of urban legend to me.

WantsOfTheFlesh -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 6:53:50 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Arpig As to the name, I'll take the word of the inventor spoken at the time over the imperfect recollection of an engineer years after the fact. But, hey, you like your story, stick with it Its not that I like the story, its about probability. I would also take the word of the designer but don't because mouse as a random selection is improbable because the device has some similarities with a mechanical mouse. If the cursor that the mouse controlled truly was called a CAT at the time then it couldn't be random.

Arpig -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 6:57:12 PM)
quote: If the cursor that the mouse controlled truly was called a CAT This I doubt. I've never heard the term outside of this story, and in the article you linked to they say nobody knows why it was called a CAT. Just too convenient, sorry. The whole tale is bullshit, folk etymology at its finest.

WantsOfTheFlesh -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 7:01:34 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Arpig quote: If the cursor that the mouse controlled truly was called a CAT This I doubt. I've never heard the term outside of this story, and in the article you linked to they say nobody knows why it was called a CAT. Just too convenient, sorry. The whole tale is bullshit, folk etymology at its finest. Judging by the account its not that the term CAT wasn't around but wasn't remembered what it stood for. After all it was more than 40 years before and there must have been 100s or 1000s of acronyms used in that era. I don't know if it is true or not but its in a published book by a relatively well known author so I wouldn't just discount it.

willbeurdaddy -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 7:21:42 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Aylee quote: ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy quote: ORIGINAL: Aylee Ummm. . . no. No they do not. Maybe where you live you do not have mice. But the computer device looks nothing like Jerry or Speedy. Yeah they do...sorta. The cord is the tail. Put little ears on the other end and hallucinate a little :) Yeah. . . it is that whole hallucinating thing that I am having trouble with. Add to that, there is no clicky buttons on a mousey. I dont know..Ive never examined Minnie's privates. ;)

Arpig -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 7:25:30 PM)
quote: Judging by the account its not that the term CAT wasn't around but wasn't remembered what it stood for. After all it was more than 40 years before and there must have been 100s or 1000s of acronyms used in that era. I don't know if it is true or not but its in a published book by a relatively well known author so I wouldn't just discount it. Yet you are happy to discount the words spoken by the inventor at the time he first demonstrated it, while all of it was fresh in his mind...interesting. Like I said, you like your story, so feel free to stick with it in spite of the evidence.

WantsOfTheFlesh -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 7:35:31 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Arpig quote: Judging by the account its not that the term CAT wasn't around but wasn't remembered what it stood for. After all it was more than 40 years before and there must have been 100s or 1000s of acronyms used in that era. I don't know if it is true or not but its in a published book by a relatively well known author so I wouldn't just discount it. Yet you are happy to discount the words spoken by the inventor at the time he first demonstrated it, while all of it was fresh in his mind...interesting. Like I said, you like your story, so feel free to stick with it in spite of the evidence. We have been over this Arpig. I explained that I would accept his word but it was unlikely to just be a random name since there are obvious similarities in appearance. That was why I was sceptical. I also said I didn't know which was true.

Arpig -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 7:44:39 PM)
You say accept his word and yet in the same sentence you discount his word. Interesting thought process there bub.

WantsOfTheFlesh -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 7:54:19 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Arpig You say accept his word and yet in the same sentence you discount his word. Interesting thought process there bub. I said I "would" accept his word as gospel but found it difficult seeing as how most people see a connection between a computer mouse and an actual mouse or mechanical mouse. [sm=modxiiswatching.gif]

willbeurdaddy -> RE: Computer input pointing device (5/17/2011 8:01:34 PM)
Engelbart has said that there were 5 people working on it and one of them started calling it a mouse, but he doesnt remember who or why. However, calls the cord a "tail" in discussing its early design and I have no doubt that it was its resemblence to a mouse that inspired the tech to call it that.

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